Kuwait’s Ministry of Public Works has awarded the contract for the upgrade of Al-Nawaseeb Road, also known as Route 40, to a joint venture (JV) of Egypt’s Arab Contractors Osman Ahmed Osman and the local Arab Kuwait Contractors.

The JV’s bid for the contract was KD169m ($559m).

The project entails the construction of a six-lane, 37-kilometre road featuring multi-level intersections and a detour bridge. It also entails the supply of traffic control and signalling systems, as well as associated facilities.

The ministry is set to award two other major road projects before the end of the year. These include the construction of interchanges and bridges on the 6.5 Ring Road and intersection 82 on the country’s northern regional road.

The Arab Contractors and Arab Kuwait Contractors JV is bidding for both of the remaining road schemes.

These projects align with Kuwait’s renewed focus to upgrade its infrastructure and address growing traffic congestion and travel time delays, particularly on roads controlled by traffic signal installations.

The Ministry of Public Works began reviewing the bids for the three projects in early August. The relatively short tender cycle for Route 40 and the $4.3bn project for the Kuwait International airport (KIA) expansion is almost unprecendented in Kuwait, which is known for delaying project contract awards.